1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to Domain Name System (DNS) servers on a private network. In particular, the field of invention relates to the automatic update of IP addresses on a private network.
2. Description of the Related Art
For many businesses, updating one or more IP addresses in a private network can quickly become a nontrivial task. Indeed, small and medium-sized businesses lacking competent network administrators may find the process of modifying IP addresses burdensome, overwhelming, and extremely disruptive. The problem becomes particularly acute when the change is to the IP address of a DNS server, wherein the DNS server is the central source for locating other resources and services on the network. As these DNS servers proliferate in number, modifications to a DNS server IP address becomes more likely and propagating updates to the entire network more complex. The challenge for small and medium-sized businesses is that such changes are a part of maintaining a private network.
An alternative to manually updating the IP addresses associated with DNS servers distributed across a network is Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). With DHCP, network devices like client computers are in regular communication with a DHCP server that leases IP addresses to the client computers for a set period of time. In addition to the leased IP address, network devices also often receive the DNS server IP address from the DHCP server and remain updated as DNS server IP addresses change. The problem with DHCP is that DHCP server setup and management is also nontrivial making it an unsuitable alternative for many small to medium-sized businesses.
Another alternative to manually updating IP addresses is multicast DNS. With multicast DNS, each network device on the private network stores a local copy of its own IP-to-hostname mapping and discovers new IP addresses for unknown hostnames by broadcasting the unknown hostname, often referred to as IP multicast, and waiting for a response from the network device with a matching hostname. A significant limitation of multicast DNS is that hostname resolution can only be done between devices on a shared local area network (LAN) segment making it unsuitable for most small to medium-sized business networks.
Thus, there is a need for an autonomous IP address modification system that does not require a DHCP server and that spans multiple LAN segments.